15 ways to cook like a master chef. By Matt Preston.

You'll be cooking like a pro in no time at all.

Ben Dearnley

There are thousands of rules barked at young aspiring restaurant chefs by gnarled old head chefs over the life of their apprenticeships. Here are 15 valuable rules for the home cook - and all delivered without the swearing, brandished hot palette knife, and raised hand of a traditional 20th century kitchen.

1 Time is your most valuable ally - preserve it.

Whether cooking dinner for the kids, friends or a restaurant full of customers, the chef's mantra is always to try and maximise your time. They do this through making lists, well-planned preparation and clever cooking so plan, shop and do a prep list of what you need to buy and what tasks need to be done.

2 Organise your pantry and your freezer

Have things in neat little boxes so you can find them. Date and name everything you put into your freezer, pantry or fridge. Be a pantry nerd and you'll save not only many hours but also many dollars.

3 A cup is not always a cup

Measure out by weight rather than by volume as this will minimise your margin of error when trying to recreate a recipe. A cup can be a very random amount depending on how closely packed the ingredient is or whether the cup or other measuring aid is marginally over or under filled.

4 Waste nothing

Don't throw anything away. Recently I've eaten bresaola cured in the used grinds of the restaurant's coffee machine, sushi made of the frilly edge of a flounder and waffles made from the wings of skate. Waste is lost dollars. So use trimmings, heads and scraps for stocks, soups, bisques and flavoured oils.

5 Don't leave flavour in the pan

Not all seasoning will stay on what you are cooking but will stick to the pan. Scrub this flavour back into your sauce by deglazing your pan with a splash of booze, stock, fruit, vegetable juice or even water.

6 Cook and buy what you need

Leftovers that never get eaten are waste, too. So work out what you'll need and only cook what will be eaten unless you are batch cooking a dish for a number of meals.

7 Strong foundations

Foundations come from books, teachers, repetition and knowledge but they also come from building a dish properly whether from using a good stock or starting your dish with a traditional French mirepoix or Italian soffrito of onion, carrot, and maybe celery or fennel. As with browning meat, take the mix of diced veg to a deep golden place for the best flavour - unless the recipe calls for delicacy and subtleness.

8 Love your oven

Remember that an unwatched pan in the oven is far less likely to burn than an unwatched pan on the stove. The oven is gentler too so even if things do catch (and assuming they don't go too far)you'll be pulling out a pan with loads of toasty bits to stir back in rather than a charred mess.

9 Time makes flavour

Whether you are slow cooking something to break down any toughness or taking the proper (longer) time to caramelise onions you will be repaid with better flavour. Remember too that time removes the water that dilutes flavour.

10 Don't kill the flavour

Once you've spent all that time developing flavour don't kill it by stirring in things that will deaden it like flour or butter. Sure, you'll get a creamy texture but is that worth it if you mute the flavours? Beware of dried herbs for this reason, too.

11 Slow is not the only way

Cooking is all about imparting heat to ingredients. Simple. This isn't just to soften them, crisp them or to alter their flavour profile, it is also often about achieving that elusive Maillard reaction. This is where some wonderful flavours are unlocked by browning everything from meat to vegetables. Here's where the chef's love of a searing hot heat for pans and grills comes from. At home, cook hotter and push your cooking so the surface is even darker than usual even if the interior still just reaches the perfect temperature as usual. Then wonder at how much tastier everything is.

12 Taste

Everything. Always. Often. And adjust accordingly each time. Always be mindful of the impact that time and other ingredients to be added later will have on that dish.

13 Seasoning

The single biggest gripe about young chefs from old chefs - other than the amount of time they spend building their social media profile - is that they don't season enough. Seasoning is about bringing flavours into focus and for many old chefs it is perfect when the dish "almost tastes salty". Play with salt and see where the sweet spot lies for you. Once you can identify it ou can repeat it.

14 Not just about salty

Sure, we love salty but also think of pumping up flavours by adding contrasting or complementing flavours like bitter, sour or a little sweetness to your dish near the end of cooking or as a garnish. A drizzle of maple syrup, a squeeze of lemon, a dollop of yoghurt or a splash of coffee can all work wonders in sharpening the impact of a dish or sauce.

15 Eat it tomorrow

Just as cooking things together can mellow and meld flavours so leaving them overnight in the fridge can do the same thing, whether it's a Bolognese sauce or a chilli. Try it.